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Super Tuesday is underway.
Voters in 15 states decide who they want to be their candidate in the presidential elections on November 5, both in the Republican and Democratic Parties.
Unlike other occasions, the big day of the primaries is reached without much emotion.
Both the president, Democrat Joe Biden, and his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, are practically assured of the nomination and today can close the race politically (although not mathematically).
Voters from both parties have an appointment this Tuesday in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
In addition to those 14 States, in the Republican case there are
caucuses
in Alaska and, in the Democratic case, the results of Iowa (which has been voting exclusively by mail since January 12) are revealed.
Primaries are also held in the territory of American Samoa.
In the Republican case, 874 of the 2,429 delegates of the convention are elected.
Trump needs 1,215.
On the part of the Democratic Party, 1,420 of the 1,968 necessary delegates are assigned.
The results are known since 7:00 p.m. Eastern time in the United States (six hours more in peninsular Spain).
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Miguel Jimenez
This is how delegates are assigned
Each state has its own rules, but in the Republican primaries several give all the delegates to the winner if it exceeds 50% (which happens almost by definition when there are only two candidates for practical purposes).
Republicans use this method to decide the primaries early so that the party base can unite forces around a candidate, something that this time has happened in advance.
Among them is California, the State that sends the most delegates to the convention (169).
In Texas (161) the system is also majority, although partly by state and partly by districts.
The next states that allocate the most Republican delegates are North Carolina (74), Tennessee (58), Alabama (50) and Virginia (48).
Democrats prefer to award delegates proportionally, but Biden has no real alternatives in front of him.
ACT.5 MAR 2024 - 16:14
Miguel Jimenez
A voter places a ballot in a mailbox from her vehicle during the Super Tuesday primary elections in San Diego, California, March 5, 2024. / Mike Blake / REUTERS
Less excitement than other Super Tuesdays
With less excitement than in other primary elections, Super Tuesday arrives, the key date in the race towards the nomination for the presidency.
It is the day in which more States vote and in which a greater number of delegates are awarded who will attend the conventions of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party in the summer, in which the candidates who opt to win the elections of the Next November 5th.
At stake are around a third of the delegates of either party or, in other words, around two-thirds of those needed to win the nomination.
The polls give Joe Biden winners by a wide margin among the Democrats and Donald Trump among the Republicans, but this week they still cannot mathematically achieve the required majority.
ACT.5 MAR 2024 - 16:13
The country
Can Biden win the nomination now?
The Democratic convention will be held from August 19 to 22 at the United Center in Chicago (Illinois).
It will have a total of about 4,540 delegates and superdelegates (they depend mainly on their position), but in the first vote there will be 3,934 delegates.
Biden must get 1,968 pledged delegates.
He has 206 of the 208 that have been awarded and this Tuesday 1,420 are assigned.
As the Democratic calendar is somewhat behind the Republican one, it will not be able to exceed the required threshold until March 19 (when Arizona, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio vote), even if it continues to win in all the States.
ACT.5 MAR 2024 - 16:08
The country
Can Trump win the nomination now?
At the Republican National Convention from July 15 to 19 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) there are a total of 2,429 delegates.
To secure the nomination, Trump needs 1,215 delegates.
He arrives with about 270 and on Tuesday there are 874 at stake, so at least he will have to wait for the 161 delegates up for grabs on March 12, when voting takes place in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi and the State of Washington.
ACT.5 MAR 2024 - 16:08
El PaísMiguel Jiménez
15 States go to vote today
Voters from both parties have an appointment this Tuesday in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
In addition to those 14 States, in the Republican case there are caucuses in Alaska and, in the Democratic case, the results of Iowa (which has been voting exclusively by mail since January 12) are revealed.
Primaries are also held in the territory of American Samoa.
ACT.5 MAR 2024 - 16:07
Miguel Jimenez
A polling station in Los Angeles, California, during Super Tuesday.
/ Aude Guerrucci / REUTERS
Welcome to Super Tuesday
Welcome to the United States' Super Tuesday election.
This March 5, voters in 15 States are called to the polls to show their preferences on who should be the presidential candidate for the Republican Party and the Democrat.
About a third of each party's delegates are chosen for the summer conventions.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump start as undisputed favorites and aspire to secure the nomination, although mathematically they cannot yet reach the required number of delegates.
In this live broadcast, the team of EL PAÍS correspondents in the United States will report on the evolution of the day, the closure of the voting centers and the results of the vote.
ACT.5 MAR 2024 - 16:05